WE HAD TEN PLAYERS MISSING AT ROTHERHAM, IS THERE ANY GOOD NEWS AHEAD OF THE WEEKEND?

"We’ve not really got anyone coming back, and to add to that we’ve got one or two ill as well and we’ll need to look at that over the next day as we go into the game. You look at the composition of the side against Rotherham and you’re asking people to play different roles, we have no choice."

THE FESTIVE PERIOD IS A BRITISH TRADITION BUT IT DOES PUT A STRAIN ON THE SQUAD

"Yes it does, but you’re looking for resilient players who can adapt to that and show that nothing’s a problem, that should be the motto of the players, they should relish the challenge of playing. It was a good response in the second half at Rotherham after being bitterly disappointed to go in 3-0 down at half time and you’re looking for that to continue at Derby County.

"The way the situation is I need to find out where we are with injuries and illness because there are a few who have called in with the bugs you get at this time of year. In an ideal world, if you’ve got loads of players you can plan for different games but we’re not in a situation where we can do that. Every point counts so you can’t prioritise one game over another, they are all must win games.

"We’re looking to build robustness in players that they can handle situations and relish these types of challenges."

YOU MENTIONED CUTTING OUT INDIVIDUAL ERRORS AFTER ROTHERHAM AND IPSWICH?

"In the games where we’ve played the so-called bigger sides who have a philosophy of passing the ball around, we’ve dealt with that really well. The two games we’ve come unstuck in have been against more basic sides who look to win second balls and we’ve not been well enough equipped to deal with that. We will keep working to improve every area."

A DIFFICULT RUN GOING INTO DERBY MATCH BUT WE GO THERE IN A POSITIVE SPIRIT?

"You have to, whatever happens in football or life you can either stand in the corner and let people hit you or you can come out swinging and that’s what we need to be like in this situation.

"We need everybody together, the fans backing and helping the players, which they have done really well, but we’ve got to go out and express ourselves against Derby and give them as many problems as we can, then and finish off the chances we create and stop them relentlessly from getting chances on our goal."